


Of Charms and other things

by noxfelicis



Category: Dangerverse - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7890919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxfelicis/pseuds/noxfelicis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bit of a headcanon about fifth-year Marauders era happenings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Charms and other things

The first day of DADA class after Christmas break, Professor Dearborn tells the students they'll be studying patronuses in preparation for O.W.L.S. The Griffindor fifth years are stoked. The Slytherins that they share the classtime with are less visibly thrilled, but still intrigued.

Of course, when students pair off to start practicing the wand movements, Lily is with Severus. He's still obsessing over Remus, but she diverts the conversation completely by wondering aloud if she should go with James to Hogsmeade this weekend. Sev is stricken, and even as Lily tries to reassure him that she was only joking, really, that she'd never consider it seriously in a thousand years, he knows she's slipping away, even if she doesn't.

Across the room, James is joking around with Peter, unaware of the hateful glare emanating from Snape. James brings his wand through the required motions, as if the charm is old-hand for him. It is. One way of getting a solid guess at one's animagus form is to cast a Patronus, and James, ever one for spoilers, learned how to cast one as soon as wizardly possible. Peter nudges him and whispers something about Lily watching. For once, James doesn't get nervous or ruffle his hair. Instead, he repeats the motion, but this time, confidently says, “Expecto Patronum,” like he knows he doesn't need to shout.

And the stag bursts forth from his wand, and even if Lily hadn't been watching already, she would be now. Everyone in the room is staring and James shrugs off the attention, as laid back as the stag beside him. Sirius is miffed, but it would be a bit suspicious for two Marauders to cast the charm perfectly on the first day.

Over the next few weeks, more and more students accomplish corporeal Patronuses. Of course, they're not doing it in front of a real Dementor, so maybe it's not as big a deal as it seems. But, it's exciting, and a bit revealing, if one knows what various Patronuses mean. Lily, charms-master that she is, had been determined to be the first, but since James stole her thunder, she starts practicing on her own until she's got it perfectly. From that point, she waits. If she can't be first, she can be the best and last by choice.

Severus practices in class, but his heart isn't in it. All his happy memories involve Lily. Now that she seems to be developing an interest in James, those thoughts feel tainted. He scowls at James whenever she isn't looking, and sometimes when she is. At last, he manages to cast more just a puff of silver. As Lily watches excitedly, Severus performs the charm and his Patronus emerges: a young doe.

That's when Lily knows – knows how much Severus feels for her, knows how much he hates James, and maybe even knows that she's starting to like James a bit, even if she's not ready to act on it. All she can do is laugh, and point out between gasps and giggles that Sev and Potter clearly are _meant for each other_. Severus' scowl deepens, something Lily had thought impossible. She decides not to tell him, not yet, not with O.W.L.s tomorrow. She chooses not to show off her Patronus in class that day. During the exam the next day, for practical DADA, she demonstrates her mastery of that charm, and the Ministry-certified examiners admire her shining, silver tiger.

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I've been thinking about. All the credit goes to Anne B. Walsh (author of the phenomenal Danger-verse HP AU, seriously, if you haven't read it you are missing out) for Lily's-patronus-as-a-tiger, which really is what inspired this whole thing.


End file.
